BC Parks and wildfire prevention
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As BC Parks and protected areas cover approximately 14.7% of the province’s land base, what role do we play in helping prevent wildfires?
For decades, BC Parks has been working on wildfire prevention projects both inside and outside of parks and protected areas. Since 2018, a permanent and specialized BC Parks team of forest and biology professionals has been leading this work. The team leads wildfire planning and prevention projects and builds foundational guidance, tools, and training for BC Parks staff, contractors and partners. They have also worked to support the development of the BC Wildfire Service (BCWS)’ Crown Land Wildfire Risk Reduction (CLWRR) Program, the BCWS Cultural and Prescribed Fire Program, and BC FireSmart ®.
Our approach to wildfire prevention work within BC Parks is guided by ecological values and conservation efforts. Wildfire prevention can look different in parks and protected areas.
What is wildfire prevention work?
A big part of wildfire prevention work in parks and protected areas is fuel management activities, which are deliberate and planned actions to help prevent wildfires. Fuel management uses a variety of tools and may include: tree pruning to help prevent fire from moving from the ground to the crown of trees; surface fuel clean up which involves removing forest floor debris; crown thinning which reduces the density of trees; and prescribed burning, which is the planned and intentional use of fire on a specific land area. This website is a great resource to learn more about cultural and prescribed fire.
Treatment before and after in ȽÁU,WELṈEW̱/John Dean Park
Wildfires shape ecosystems. Some forest and grassland ecosystems need fire to be healthy. Where appropriate, BC Parks may also take steps help ecosystems recover by mimicking fire impacts that benefit the landscape. Where ecologically appropriate, this may include removing trees encroaching into a grassland or using prescribed fire to reduce the number of small trees and dead branches in a forest. We are also supporting work by First Nations to reintroduce cultural burning practices.
Who do we work with?
We don’t do this work in isolation – we actively work with local and Indigenous governments, as well as provincial land managers to plan and prioritize projects on the collective landscape.
How is this work funded?
The BC Parks Licence Plate Program has a Fire-based Ecosystem and Land Management funding stream that supports a number of projects annually. We also receive an annual fuel management and cultural and prescribed fire allocation from BCWS’ Crown Land Wildfire Risk Reduction (CLWRR) Program.
For more information about the fire prevention work our Licence Plate Program funds…
Visit this past blog post: Building fire-resilient parks and protected areas with help from the BC Parks Licence Plate Program
Watch this video filmed in Shuswap Lake Park and Lac du Bois Protected Area:
Watch this video about cultural fire filmed in Skagit Park: Skagit Provincial Park Chittenden Meadows cultural fire video
